Plant for packaging confectionary products in a sterile manner

ABSTRACT

A plant for packaging confectionary products comprises: at least one first assembly for preparation of a first thermoformable strip; a forming assembly for making on the first strip at least one compartment for housing confectionary products; an assembly for supplying/dispensing a confectionary product in the aforesaid compartment; a second assembly for preparation of a second closing strip; a welding assembly for connecting together the first strip and the second strip and closing the confectionary product within the housing compartment; and a cutting assembly for cutting the strips and making at least one container; each forming part of a respective operating module that is independent of the other modules and coupled to the adjacent modules in a releasable way.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invefttion relates to a plant for packaging confectionaryproducts in a sterile manner in sterile containers or packages.

In the foodstuffs industry, in general, and in the field of packaging ofconfectionary products in sterile containers, in particular, there isfelt the need to package products in containers having formats differentfrom one another. For said purpose, for each format, i.e., for each typeof container, there is currently used a packaging plant “dedicated” tothe specific container.

Each of said plants, commonly known as “form/fill/seal”, comprises aplurality of stations, which are aligned with one another along apackaging path and are all housed within a common tunnel that defines a“sterile” area or rather an area controlled in its degree ofbacteriological contamination in order to ensure the sterility of thepackaging. Fed step by step through the aforesaid stations is a firstthermoformable strip, which defines an end wall of the tunnel and, afterbeing sterilized, is heated, in a purposely designed station, and thenpasses into a thermoforming station for making one or more housings orcompartments designed to receive, each, at least one of the aforesaidproducts. The compartments with the products to be packaged inside arethen sealed by means of a second strip that is also previouslysterilized and that delimits at the top a terminal length of theaforesaid tunnel and is heat-sealed on the first strip before thevarious compartments are physically separated from one another in adinking station.

BACKGROUND ART

Even though the known plants of the type described above are currentlyin use, since they are dedicated to a given container, they present a“rigid” configuration and consequently cannot be drastically modifiedfor producing containers that may even be very different from the oneoriginally envisaged. It is, however, possible to make partialmodifications to the known plants, said modifications in any caserequiring particularly long adaptation times and generating unacceptablelosses in terms of downtime of the plant and, hence, of lack ofproduction.

Furthermore, in known plants, precisely because they are dedicated, thewidth of the strips and the step of advance of the strips themselves arealready determined in the design stage and optimized as a function ofthe dimensions, geometry and, in general, type of individual format orcontainer originally conceived so that the change in format inevitablygenerates an increase in waste, i.e., in the amount of strips not usedin the processes of thermoforming and/or closing, to such an extent asto render production less economically advantageous given, as is known,the high incidence of the cost of the strips on the overall cost of thepackaged product.

The use of strips of different width on existing plants is ruled out bythe fact that the strips delimit the sterile area and for this reasonmust be constantly coupled in a sealed way to a wide range of mechanicalcomponents of the plant, which would, in turn, have to undergomodifications or adaptations that entail insurmountable difficulties.For the reasons set forth above, each substantial change of format ofthe containers requires replacement of the entire packaging plant.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The aim of the present invention is to provide a plant for packagingconfectionary products in sterile containers, the constructionalcharacteristics of which enable a simple and inexpensive solution of theproblems set forth above.

According to the present invention a plant for packaging confectionaryproducts in sterile containers is provided, the plant comprising,arranged along a packaging path, at least one first assembly forsterilization and heating of a first thermoformable strip, a formingassembly for making on said first strip at least one compartment forhousing said confectionary products, an assembly for feeding aconfectionary product into said compartment, a second assembly forsterilization and feed of a second closing strip towards said firststrip, a welding sealing assembly for connecting together said stripsand closing said confectionary product within said housing compartment,a cutting assembly for cutting said strips and making at least one saidcontainer, and a sterile duct extending along said packaging path anddesigned to contain a sterile gas, said duct being common to saidassemblies and being delimited at least partially by said strips, theplant being characterized in that each said assembly forms part of arespective operating module that is independent of the other modules andcoupled to the adjacent modules in a releasable way.

Preferably, in the plant defined above, each said module comprises arespective supporting frame that is independent of the supporting framesof the other modules, the frames supporting respective operating meansdesigned to perform the specific function of said module and part of theframes themselves a respective half-shell casing distinct from the othercasings and connected to the adjacent casings via releasable sealingmeans; each said casing delimiting a respective length of said sterileduct.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described with reference to the attachedfigures, which illustrate a non-limiting example of embodiment thereofand in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a preferred embodiment of theplant according to teachings of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is similar to FIG. 1 and illustrates the plant broken down intosome of its constitutive elements;

FIG. 3 illustrates, at an enlarged scale, a detail of FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIG. 4 illustrates, in perspective view, a component of the plant ofFIGS. 1 and 2.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

In FIG. 1, designated as a whole by 1 is a plant for packagingconfectionary products in sterile containers. Here and in what followsby the term “confectionary products” is meant both products in a solidor granular form and products in the form of a liquid or a cream.

The plant 1 has a modular composition or is made up of units that aremutually independent, i.e., autonomous from the mechanical, electrical,electronic, pneumatic, and management standpoints. In the specific case,the plant 1 comprises, in succession along a packaging path P, a module3 for feed and sterilization of a thermoformable strip 4, which is woundoff a spool 5 and fed step by step along the packaging path P by drawingdevices, which are known and not described in detail. The plant 1 thencomprises a module 6 for heating of the thermoformable strip 4 and amodule 7 for thermoforming of the thermoformable strip 4 itself. Themodule 7 provides on the strip 4 a plurality of housings or compartments8 having dimensions and relative positioning determined in the designstage according to the product, the type of container to be made, andthe width of the strip 4 itself.

Downstream of the module 7, in the direction of advance of the strip 4,the plant 1 further comprises a dispensing module 9 for feeding theproduct to be packaged into each of the housings or compartments 8, anda further module 10 for feed and sterilization of a heat-sealable strip11 that can be wound off a spool 12 carried the module 10 itself.

Downstream of the module 10, the plant 1 further comprises a weldingmodule 13 for welding the strip 11 onto the portion of the strip 4 notinvolved the previous thermoforming process so as to close in afluid-tight way each of the housings or compartments 8, and a dinkingmodule 14 for separating the various housings or compartments 8 from oneanother to form a plurality of sterile containers, which are fed towardsan outlet 15 of the plant 1 by a conveyor belt 16 that forms part of thedinking module 14 itself.

Each of the modules 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13 and 14 comprises a respectiveoperating assembly, which is in itself known; said assemblies aredesignated by 3 a, 6 a, 7 a, 9 a, 10 a, 13 a and 14 a, respectively. Theoperating assemblies are pneumatically connected to a pneumatic sourcevia dedicated valve assemblies of their own (not illustrated) andelectrically connected to respective electronic control units 3 b, 6 b,7 b, 9 b, 10 b, 13 b and 14 b. The electronic control units 3 b, 6 b, 7b, 9 b, 10 b, 13 b and 14 b are each dedicated exclusively to thecorresponding operating assembly 3 a, 6 a, 7 a, 9 a, 10 a, 13 a and 14a, are independent of one another, and are, in turn, electricallyconnected and controlled by a general control unit 18 for managing theentire plant 1.

Each module 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13 and 14 further comprises a respectivestructure or frame 3 c, 6 c, 7 c, 9 c, 10 c, 13 c and 14 c forsupporting the corresponding operating assembly 3 a, 6 a, 7 a, 9 a, 10a, 13 a and 14 a and the various electrical and pneumaticwiring/components; each frame 3 c, 6 c, 7 c, 9 c, 10 c, 13 c and 14 c isseparate from and independent of the other frames and is set alongsideand coupled to the frames adjacent thereto in a releasable way, forexample via fast-coupling assemblies (not visible in the attachedfigures). Each frame 3 c, 6 c, 7 c, 9 c, 10 c, 13 c and 14 c issupported by a guide-and-slide assembly of its own, comprising a slidedefined by a plurality of bottom resting feet or portions 20 (FIGS. 1and 3) of the respective frame itself; in the particular exampledescribed, the portions 20 have respective bottom terminal seats 21shaped like a U set upside down and engaged by a correspondingrectilinear guide 22 in a slidable way. The guide 22 forms part of theaforesaid guide-and-slide assembly and part of a rail 23 for relativepositioning, which is common to all the modules 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13 and14, extends parallel to the path P, and is stably fixed on the floor. Inthis way, each of the modules 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13 and 14 can betranslated along the rail 23 and hence along the aforesaid packagingpath P independently of the other modules and, in particular, can beuncoupled from the rail 23 itself and moved away by simple verticallifting, as illustrated for the module in FIG. 2. Alternatively,according to a variant not illustrated, one or more modules have theirrespective frames arranged, each, on a respective motor-driven trolleyor other equivalent means for movement of the module, designed to becontrolled in position independently of the other trolleys, fordisplacement in a direction transverse to the aforesaid packaging pathP, between an operative advanced position, in which the correspondingframe extends along the path P in a pre-determined position, and anextracted position, in which the frame is set outside of the packagingpath P and in which the module does not take part in the packagingprocess.

Each of the frames supports an intermediate resting surface K, which issubstantially coplanar to the surfaces K of the other frames, and onwhich the thermoformable strip 4 rests during its advance towards theoutlet 15. In this way, the various surfaces K define at least part of asliding guide for the thermoformable strip 4. At output from the dinkingassembly 14, the containers are moved away via the conveyor belt 16.

Each of the frames arranged upstream of the sealing assembly 13 moreoversupports a respective half-shell 3 d, 6 d, 7 d, 9 d and 10 d, which isset only above the corresponding resting surface K with its concavityfacing the corresponding plane surface K itself and is coupled to thehalf-shells adjacent to it in a releasable way via the interposition ofrespective gaskets or labyrinth seals designated by 25. In theparticular example described, each half-shell 6 d, 7 d, 9 d and 10 dcomprises a corresponding top wall 26 set facing, and superimposed onlyon, the corresponding plane resting surface K and -vertically raisedwith respect to the corresponding plane surface K itself, and two sidewalls 27, which face one another and extend upwards once again startingfrom the respective flat resting surface K. Each of the top walls 26 hasa size measured parallel to the corresponding surface K and orthogonalto the path P that can be varied as a function of the width of thethermoformable strip 4 and of the strip 11 and a through openingtraversed by a mobile element of the respective operating assembly 6 a,7 a, 9 a, 10 a. The side walls 27 terminate, instead, in the directionof the corresponding resting surface K, with respective portions, which,in the case in point, are L-shaped (FIGS. 2 and 4), to which theopposite longitudinal lateral portions of the thermoformable strip 4 arecoupled in a slidable way so as to guarantee maintenance of anoverpressure of the sterile environment within the tunnel. In this way,each half-shell 6 d, 7 d, 9 d and 10 d delimits, with a correspondingintermediate portion of the thermoformable strip 4, a respective lengthof a continuous tunnel 30 (FIG. 4), which is closed upstream by the feedand sterilization assembly 3 and downstream by the closing strip 11,which progressively converges towards the underlying thermoformablestrip 4 before being welded to the thermoformable strip 4 itself.Supplied into the tunnel 30 is sterile air and, in general, a sterilegas containing nitrogen at a variable pressure of between 0.01 and 1 barto create a sterile environment, in which all the packaging operationsare performed.

From the foregoing description, it is evident how the constructionalcharacteristics of the plant 1 described and, in particular, the fact ofusing a plurality of modules or units completely independent of oneanother and autonomous from the mechanical, electrical, electronic,pneumatic, and management or control standpoints, but that can becoupled to one another in a functional way enables, according to theneeds, transformation in an extremely fast way and hence with reduceddowntimes, of an existing packaging plant into a new plant for packaginga different type of product or for the production of differentcontainers, maintaining the efficiency and reliability of the previousplant unvaried but, above all, reducing to a minimum the machiningwaste. What has just been set forth is basically the result of the factthat each one of the modules that make up the plant 1 is perfectlyinterchangeable or replaceable with another functionally equivalentmodule, i.e., a module that performs the same function as the replacedmodule and can be chosen from among a plurality of modules havingconstructional characteristics different from one another. By the term“constructional characteristics” is meant the characteristics of themodule that enable variation of the type, i.e., geometry and/ordimensions, of the containers produced.

Furthermore, other features remaining the same, the fact of envisaging,for each of the modules 6, 7, 9 and 10, a corresponding adjustablehalf-shell for forming the sterile environment enables arbitraryvariation of the transverse dimensions of the tunnel 30 and makes ithence possible to use thermoformable and closing strips of differentwidth. In the particular example described, in fact, the half-shellsprovided enable use of thermoformable and closing strips of widths thatvary in a percentage of ±15% with respect to a given width and henceoptimization of the surface of the thermoformable strip 4, reducing to aminimum the waste resulting from dinking.

Finally, the fact of using a common guide rail and of coupling thedifferent modules to the same rail in an axially slidable way makes itpossible, on the one hand, to ensure always a precise positioning of themodules along the path P of advance, and on the other, to replace any ofthe modules by simply sliding the others along the rail. Furthermore,sliding along the rail enables replacement of an existing module withanother module having a different longitudinal dimension, i.e., adimension measured in the direction of the packaging path. In otherwords, the new module may be positioned in a space not necessarilyidentical to the one left free by the previous module. Furthermore, saidimplementation enables insertion of additional modules that are able tosatisfy different working processes, e.g., working processes thatcomprise a number of a dispensing station.

From the foregoing description it emerges clearly that modifications andvariations may be made to the plant 1 described, without therebydeparting from the sphere of protection defined by claim 1.

In particular, the plant 1 could comprise a number of modules differentfrom the one indicated by way of example, and said modules could presentframes or shapes that differ from the ones indicated once again by wayof example.

Furthermore, the half-shells for obtaining the sterile environment couldbe provided in a way different from the one indicated by way of exampleonce again in the perspective of facilitating transformation of theplant according to the widths of the strips to be used.

1-11. (canceled)
 12. A plant for packaging confectionary products in asterile manner, the plant comprising, arranged along a packaging path,at least one first sterilizing and heating assembly for a firstthermo-formable strip, a forming assembly for making on said first stripat least one compartment for housing said confectionary products, afeeding assembly for feeding a confectionary product in saidcompartment, a second sterilizing and feeding assembly for feeding asecond closing strip towards said first strip, a welding assembly forreciprocally connecting said strips and closing said confectionaryproduct within said housing compartment, a cutting assembly for cuttingsaid strips and making at least one sterile container, and a continuoussterile duct extending along said packaging path and adapted to containa sterile gas, said duct being in common to said assemblies and being atleast partially delimited by said strips; each said assembly formingpart of a respective operating module which is independent from theother modules and releasably coupled to the adjacent modules; each saidmodule comprises a respective supporting frame which is independent fromthe supporting frames of the other modules and is set alongside theadjacent supporting frame; the frames supporting respective operatingmeans adapted to serve the specific function of said respective moduleand some of the frames themselves supporting a respective half-shellcasing different from the other casings and connected to the adjacentcasings by releasable gaskets; each said casing delimiting a respectivelength of said continuous sterile duct; each said frame supporting arespective flat resting surface different from the supporting surfacedefined by the other frames; said resting surfaces forming distinctsegments of a sliding guide for said first strip.
 13. A plant accordingto claim 12, characterized in that each said half-shell casing comprisesat least one side or upper wall having adjustable dimensions.
 14. Aplant according to claim 13, characterized in that each said side wallis adjustable in a direction orthogonal to said packaging path.
 15. Aplant according to claim 13, characterized in that said side wall ofeach said half-shell extends in a position facing and exclusively oversaid related resting surface.
 16. A plant according to claim 12,characterized in that it comprises releasable positioning means forarranging and maintaining each of said modules in a respectivefunctional position determined along said packaging path.
 17. A plantaccording to claim 16, characterized in that said positioning meanscomprise, for each said module, a guide-and-slide assembly for movingeach module along said packaging path independently from the othermodules.
 18. A plant according to claim 17, characterized in that saidassemblies comprise a fixed guide in common to all modules and parallelto said packaging path and, for each said module, a respective slideslidingly coupled to said common guide in opposite directions.
 19. Aplant according to claim 18, characterized in that each said slidecomprises at least one open seat to couple with said guide; said seatand said guide being reciprocally uncouplable in a vertical uncouplingdirection orthogonal to said guide to allow the respective module to bemoved away from said packaging path.
 20. A plant according to claim 12,characterized in that each said module comprises its own dedicatedelectronic control unit which is independent from the other electronicunits; said plant further comprising a general electronic control unitfor managing said dedicated electronic units.
 21. A plant according toclaim 12, characterized in that each said module comprises its ownhydraulic and/or pneumatic members for joining to hydraulic and/orpneumatic networks, respectively, which are independent from thehydraulic/pneumatic joining members of the other modules.
 22. A plantaccording to claim 12, characterized in that each said module isinterchangeable with one or more other modules, which may be chosen froma plurality of modules having different constructional features and samefunctions.